Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $7.1\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$39$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${7.1\%} \times {\$39} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $7.1\%$ is equivalent to $7.1 \div 100$ $7.1 \div 100 = 0.071$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.071$ $\times$ $$39$ = $$2.77$ You would pay $$2.77$ in sales tax.